Tom Skerritt, ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Picket Fences’ Actor, Dies at 93

Tom Skerritt, the Emmy-winning actor known for portraying steady, sharp-witted authority figures—from the flight instructor in “Top Gun” to the tough but principled sheriff on television’s “Picket Fences” and the doomed captain in “Alien”—has died at 93.

Skerritt died Wednesday of natural causes, his family said in a statement. “While the world knew Tom through his remarkable acting career, we knew him for his humor, curiosity, wisdom, generosity and the love he brought into our lives. He cared deeply about imagination, creativity, storytelling, service, veterans, the natural world and helping others find and share their own voices,” the statement said.

He received two Emmy nominations for “Picket Fences” and won outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 1993. Skerritt’s other notable film credits included “A River Runs Through It,” “The Turning Point,” in which he played Shirley MacLaine’s patient husband, and “Steel Magnolias,” where he portrayed Sally Field’s husband. In “Contact,” he played a calculating opportunist who opposed Jodie Foster’s effort to communicate with extraterrestrial life.

“A writer once described me as a character actor locked in a leading man’s body, and I’ve always loved that. It’s a nice compliment. I’ve been able to walk the line between television and features,” Skerritt told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1997.

Skerritt also worked extensively onstage. He narrated “Our Town” at Seattle’s Intiman Theatre in 2004 before making his Broadway debut in 2013 in an adaptation of John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill.” The Associated Press praised his performance, writing that he “nicely pulls off a charming disgraced and drunken lawyer.”

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He is survived by his wife, Julie; his children, Andy, Erin, Matt, Collin and Emiko; his grandchildren, Sara, Maddison, Sunny, Louisa and Georgia; and his great-grandchildren, Marigold and Ravi.

“Tom believed deeply in the power of storytelling. He helped found TheFilmSchool in Seattle to support the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers,” his family said. That commitment later led to the Red Badge Project, which Skerritt co-founded to help veterans address PTSD, anxiety and depression by writing about and sharing their experiences.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.